1. Six to eight months for a publisher to get Liturgy of Hours books finished is absurd. First, the last time the Bishops did this on a grand scale was for the Roman Missal, and they required reviewing and approving layouts designed by the publishers. Second, they’re printed overseas — likely i…
1. Six to eight months for a publisher to get Liturgy of Hours books finished is absurd. First, the last time the Bishops did this on a grand scale was for the Roman Missal, and they required reviewing and approving layouts designed by the publishers. Second, they’re printed overseas — likely in China or Vietnam — which in the post-Covid world has meant longer delays.
2. ANOTHER revision to the NAB? Seriously?!?! They just did this a decade or so ago. Were the changes done then incorrect or incomplete? If so, will they ever be happy with a Scriptural translation that doesn’t need modifications every few years? And if they do that, does it necessitate changing all other dependent liturgical books each time they make changes?
3. Would it surprise anyone to know that USCCB has a vested interest in changing official liturgical texts every few years? After all, they receive a high royalty fee from the publishers every time books are sold. So it’s in their financial interest to force us to buy new and updated texts. (When the NABRE was published in 2010/11/12 — I don’t recall the exact year — publishers were legally prevented from selling older copies of the NAB after a certain date, which memory serves was about 9 months after the NABRE was released.)
3. The constant stream of changing liturgical texts is all part of the retranslation project started with the Roman Missal. Liturgy of the Hours and a new lectionary might be the last big one.
1. Six to eight months is probably overly optimistic, but I presume they'll have only one publisher for the four volume set, otherwise praying in common would be a nightmare if everyone has different page numbers. The Roman Missal has a lot of publishers that all had to be wrangled, so that probably complicated things.
2. I think they updated the NAB to update the lectionary, then Liturgiam Authenticam came out and had different expectations on e.g. Inclusive Language, which set off another round of revisions. The goal IIRC was to create a "liturgical bible" where the readings at the Liturgy can all be found in one book. Once the Lectionary gets published -- everyone will probably still hate the translation -- I think the translation will be set in stone for at least a while.
Though since all the liturgical books already re-published have scripture in them, I'm sure publishers will be more than happy to release a new edition. It's like University Text Books.
Several thoughts from a Catholic bookseller:
1. Six to eight months for a publisher to get Liturgy of Hours books finished is absurd. First, the last time the Bishops did this on a grand scale was for the Roman Missal, and they required reviewing and approving layouts designed by the publishers. Second, they’re printed overseas — likely in China or Vietnam — which in the post-Covid world has meant longer delays.
2. ANOTHER revision to the NAB? Seriously?!?! They just did this a decade or so ago. Were the changes done then incorrect or incomplete? If so, will they ever be happy with a Scriptural translation that doesn’t need modifications every few years? And if they do that, does it necessitate changing all other dependent liturgical books each time they make changes?
3. Would it surprise anyone to know that USCCB has a vested interest in changing official liturgical texts every few years? After all, they receive a high royalty fee from the publishers every time books are sold. So it’s in their financial interest to force us to buy new and updated texts. (When the NABRE was published in 2010/11/12 — I don’t recall the exact year — publishers were legally prevented from selling older copies of the NAB after a certain date, which memory serves was about 9 months after the NABRE was released.)
I wish we would just use the RSV and be done with it!
Amen
3. The constant stream of changing liturgical texts is all part of the retranslation project started with the Roman Missal. Liturgy of the Hours and a new lectionary might be the last big one.
1. Six to eight months is probably overly optimistic, but I presume they'll have only one publisher for the four volume set, otherwise praying in common would be a nightmare if everyone has different page numbers. The Roman Missal has a lot of publishers that all had to be wrangled, so that probably complicated things.
2. I think they updated the NAB to update the lectionary, then Liturgiam Authenticam came out and had different expectations on e.g. Inclusive Language, which set off another round of revisions. The goal IIRC was to create a "liturgical bible" where the readings at the Liturgy can all be found in one book. Once the Lectionary gets published -- everyone will probably still hate the translation -- I think the translation will be set in stone for at least a while.
Though since all the liturgical books already re-published have scripture in them, I'm sure publishers will be more than happy to release a new edition. It's like University Text Books.